


The torturous tale of the Dragon who was taken away from all he had ever known, only to have his past find him

by JenJo



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [51]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dragons, M/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 17:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9196670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenJo/pseuds/JenJo
Summary: What’s past is past. All James can focus on is the present.Today is January fourth. Your name is James Barnes. You are a dragon.Dragon’s have a perfect memory. You don’t.How can you be a dragon if you can’t remember your own life?James shook his head, pulling down his left sleeve again before taking hold of his backpack.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Week 30: A story about a magical object.  
> The thought process for this:  
> Brain: you have a winterhawk Hogwarts AU.  
> Me: I know.  
> Brain: an AU you started in January 2016.  
> Me: I know.  
> Brain: An AU you created specifically for this prompt.  
> Me: what if-  
> Brain: no.  
> Me: -instead of Hogwarts AU-  
> Brain: no.  
> Me: -fantasy AU.  
> Brain: I give up.

 

 

There were many things that HYDRA looked for in a test subject. But, perhaps, there was one factor that outweighed any other:

The subject must not be completely human.

Every other factor came second to that. 

Vampires, Witches,  Merfolk… HYDRA had seen, and experimented on them all. Or so they had thought.

They had never before experimented on a dragon. Not until 1944. 

Ask James Barnes to tell you what HYDRA did to him, and he will give you nothing. If you were lucky, he would turn around and never speak to you again.

Maybe what was done to him is so unthinkable that he never dare think of it, let alone speak of it, ever again. Maybe he does not remember, and the void in his memory brings him pain to consider. Maybe it is no one’s business but his own. 

It doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things. What’s past is past. All James can focus on is the present.

_ Today is January fourth. Your name is James Barnes. You are a dragon.  _

**_Dragon’s have a perfect memory. You don’t._ **

**_How can you be a dragon if you can’t remember your own life?_ **

James shook his head, pulling down his left sleeve again before taking hold of his backpack.  _ You’re in public. You  _ have _ to keep it together. _

The public had no idea of how much danger they were in on a daily basis. Just walking down the street, James could see at least twenty people who could be stolen from. A further fifteen who were troubled by the fantastical. And thirty two who  _ were  _ the fantastical. 

Twelve Guardian Angels, ten merfolk, and a pair of witches (who avoided eye contact just as much as he did).

_ It was a miracle you made it back without an incident. _

A miracle, or fate, if you thought about it. Especially when you took into account  _ what  _ was waiting for him back at his flat.

“Steve.”

Steve had been standing opposite the door, clearly waiting for him. He smiled at James. “You remember me.”

James shook his head, locking the door behind him. He could smell  _ something _ , a smell he could vaguely remember. 

“Bucky.”

James turned around, but stayed close enough to the door that he could escape if needed. “I did not think you would find me.”

“You didn’t make it hard.” Steve gave him a smile. “A dragon isn’t hard to track when they don’t hide themselves.”

James shook his head again. “Not a dragon.”

“What?” Steve took a step forward; James flinched back towards the door, and Steve stopped moving, staying where he was.

“Not a dragon,” James repeated, pointing to his head with his left hand. “No memory.”

Steve frowned at James from across the room. “Your memories aren’t what make you a dragon.”

James looked down at the floor between them. James whispered, “How can you be something, if you don’t remember how?” 

The room was silent; James kept expecting Steve to break the silence, but it never came. James looked up, to see a saddened expression.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said, taking a step forward. This time, James did not react when Steve came to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I know it doesn’t change anything, but I am sorry.”

James closed his eyes, his nose filling with a smell he hadn’t smelt in ages. James shook his head. “You’re still a vampire.”

James opened his eyes to see Steve smiling. “Well, it’s not like I can stop being one. Just like you can’t stop being a dragon.”

James shook his head. “One day. Who has been working with you?”

“Who?”

James gave Steve an unimpressed look.

“Right, right. Sam, he’s been helping me look for you.”

“Why?”

“Because he's a great guy, does the right thing, makes an amazing-”

“I’m asking why you two were looking for me, not why you’re dating him.”

Steve stopped, closing his mouth with wide eyes. “What?”

Bucky continued to give Steve the same unimpressed look. “We can discuss  _ that  _ later.  _ Why  _ were you two looking for me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Steve asked, waving around with his hands. “Buck, I thought you were dead! And then you were back, but not…” Steve stopped, gesturing to James.

“Not the Barnes that you remember?” James supplied, a humourless smile accompanying the sentence. “I’m not the same man, don’t know if I ever will be.”

“I don’t expect you to be.”

_ He knows I can tell that he’s lying,  _ James thought,  _ but maybe he’s trying to convince  _ himself  _ of the lie _ .

“So why are you here?”

“To offer you a place to be safe. I know that there must be a lot of people who would like to find you. I can offer you a place where no one can get you.”

“And my less than stellar record?”

“I know people who can work it out.”

“There’s a lot to work out.”

“Having a team on your side is better than being alone.”

“Maybe,” James stepped away from the door, going to take the only item in the fridge out; a carton of ice cream. He opened it up, and began eating it. At Steve’s look, James just shrugged. “Once I leave here, there won’t be any electricity. Not going to waste ice cream.”

“So you’ll come back?”

“Yes. You can tell your Sam to relax, there’s no need for him to check in the window every two minutes.”

Steve looked at the window where, sure enough, Sam was looking in. Steve gave him a thumbs up, and pointed to the car. Sam nodded back, moving out of sight.

When Steve looked back at James, he had a smile on his face. “What?”

“Nothing,” James answered, putting another mouthful of ice cream into his mouth.

“I’m sure it isn’t nothing.”

James walked to the door, ice cream still in his hands. “You coming?”

Steve was by his side in an instant.

_ A chance at a new life, maybe,  _ James thought as he walked with Steve out of the flat he had called home for the past week.  _ A chance to reconnect with the old. _

Once they had made it out of the building, James had finished his ice cream, and threw the container into a bin. He turned to the car, where Sam was standing.

“Sam,” Sam held out a hand.

James shook it. “James.”

Sam’s eyes widened at the contact, and James was sure that his did as well.  _ He’s a dragon.  _

“Well then,” Sam let go of James’s hand, and turned to Steve. “Time to go?”

“I’ll drive.”

“No,” both Sam and James said at the same time. 

Steve laughed, holding his hands up and getting into the passenger seat. “Fine, fine. I won’t drive.”

Once Steve shut the door, Sam turned to James with a …  _ scared?  _ Look.

“He doesn’t know,” Sam whispered. “Please.”

James nodded. “I won’t say a word.”

Sam nodded as well, holding the back door open for James. James slid in, sliding across to sit behind the driver’s seat, thinking that it would give him more leg room. 

He was wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)  
> Let me know what you thought


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